Six children admitted to the Assemblies of God (AG) Hospital in Saboba, Northern Region, narrowly escaped injury on Saturday evening after a fire swept through the facility’s children’s ward, destroying beds, medical equipment, and patient belongings in an inferno that reduced the entire unit to ashes within minutes.
Eyewitnesses said the blaze broke out around 5:30 p.m. and spread so rapidly that hospital staff and community members scrambled to evacuate children before the fire consumed the structure. All patients were pulled out safely before the ward was fully engulfed.
According to sources at the hospital, six children were on admission at the time. Staff and relatives of patients successfully evacuated all of them, and they have since been relocated to other wards within the facility to continue receiving medical care. Female patients who shared the affected section were also displaced in the incident.
Items destroyed in the fire include hospital beds, mattresses, a television set in the ward, electronic equipment, medical supplies, and personal belongings of patients and their caregivers. Hospital authorities have described the damage as significant and said it will affect the facility’s ability to deliver paediatric care in the short term.
Personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) responded to the scene, but equipment challenges reportedly hampered their initial efforts to contain the blaze. The cause of the fire has not been officially determined and investigations are ongoing.
The incident echoes a fire that struck Saboba Senior High School’s girls’ dormitory in 2025, during which a GNFS fire tender also failed to function effectively, resulting in the total destruction of the dormitory and the death of a student. The recurrence of fire incidents in the Saboba area, combined with persistent reports of inadequate firefighting capacity, points to a structural gap in emergency response infrastructure that authorities in the Northern Region have not yet fully addressed.
The Assemblies of God Hospital Saboba, operated by the Assemblies of God Relief and Development Services (AGREDS), serves as the district hospital for the Saboba District and draws patients from Chereponi District, parts of western Togo, and communities across the Northern and Volta Regions. The loss of the children’s ward at an institution of that reach is not merely a local setback. It is a blow to healthcare access for a wide population in one of Ghana’s more remote and underserved zones.
No official statement had been issued by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) or the Ministry of Health as of the time of publication. NewsGhana.com.gh will provide updates as authorities assess the full extent of the damage and announce plans for reconstruction.
